Clash of the Clans
by Calamity Heart
Summary: War's not about who's right in the beginning. It's about who's left at the end. But in this war, nobody may be left. The Clans of Clint City are falling into a deeper state of chaos than ever before. Will anyone survive? Read and Review Please!
1. Chapter 1

Two sharp-dressed women walked down the murky streets, toward a building that was obviously a club. They could hear music inside. One of the women was observing the door to the club.

"Yep. That's definitely Aldo's blood, Zodiack." one woman said, holding a smoking cigar and a couple of solitaire cards.

"Don should've known better than to send a MAN to this place." said the woman in the revealing blue suit. "Come on, Angelina. We've got some work to do."

Zodiack and Angelina entered the club's double doors, squinting at the bright fluorescent cathead that hovered above them.

The song 'Single Ladies' was playing on the surround sound system. Angelina and Zodiack caught several stares as they walked toward the back of the building. A couple of larger women stopped both women.

"Didn't we tell you Montanas not to come back here?" one woman asked fiercely.

"Easy, Betty, Louise. We're only here to talk to Charlie on Don's behalf." Angelina explained.

"You don't want to raise a clatter in this little establishment you've got goin', do you?" Zodiack asked, flashing the handle of a gun.

"We're not scared of you, Zodiack. The most you can do to us with those is give us bruises. Besides, it is two of you versus two hundred of us. I do not like your odds."

"Let them in!" called a voice from inside the door that Betty and Louise were guarding.

Disgruntled, the two stepped aside, allowing the two Montanas entry.

"It's your birthday tomorrow, isn't it Louise?" Zodiack asked

The heavy-set woman nodded curtly.

Zodiack clicked her tongue, pointing her finger like a gun at her before entering with Angelina.

"I see you've decided to wear clothes today, Charlie." Angelina said.

"So, you're back again. I guess Muze didn't give Aldo enough scars." said Charlie, the woman in the yellow body suit zipped all the way down to her midriff. Three women stood behind her chair.

"The point being, we're persistent. You won't stop hearing from us until we get the rest of our back rent. We GAVE you the Pink Club. Now we want our dues." Angelina said, putting the cigar back in her mouth.

"We told you already. The Pussycats are a little short on money right now. Come back in five days, when we have our biweekly Party Night.

"You don't understand, Charlie. We've been asking for our money for MONTHS, and it's always the same story. You burn your money just as quickly as you collect. If you don't have your money for us by tomorrow, we're bringing this place to the ground." Zodiack said.

Charlie blew a smoke ring into the air as the two Montanas turned and left without a response from her.

"What are you going to do, Boss?" one of the women who stood behind her asked.

"Tell the Pussycats to party like it's 1999, Scarlet, because tomorrow, this place is turning into a battlefield."

***

Two people in police officers' uniforms slowly walked across the shadowy bridge leading out of Clint City.

"Do you see any of them, Dayton?" one man asked.

"Nah. They're all in hiding. We're looking for some specific people, though. DJ Korr is said to have his HQ in this area. We're in deep water, Coby." Dayton said,

All of a sudden, the two officers heard loud music. Dayton took out a small machine and pressed a button. The machine hummed for a few moments, then a number appeared on the machine's panel.

"947 BPM." Coby said, taking out a small radio. "Coby to Copper. We've confirmed the location of the Junkz HQ. Permission to engage?"

"Permission denied. Remember, your mission isn't to scatter the Junkz, yet. All you're doing right now is sabotaging DJ Korr's Universal Sound System. He's linked it to every other sound system in Clint City."

"So we're going to destroy it?"

"No. Destroying it won't disable all other sound systems. I hate asking this of you guys, but you're going to have to get in close. I'll walk you through how to hack the USS's system and destroy every other sound system in town."

"Roger." Coby said, putting the radio back into his pocket. "Let's move."

He and Dayton using grappling ropes to carefully sneak down under the bridge. The music that blasted under the bridge was so loud, not even earplugs muffled the sound.

"Junkz, Bangers, and even All-Stars are down here. How do these guys not go deaf?" Dayton asked in sign language, since the music made it impossible for him to speak loudly enough.

Coby shrugged, and then looked back at the massive block party that was going on under the bridge. No one noticed the two Sentinels sneaking around behind the technical equipment.

"That must be it." Coby signed, pointing to a large futuristic machine that flashed all different colors.

Coby felt something vibrating in his pocket. He took out his cell phone and read a message from Copper.

"Unscrew the panel that directly behind the machine. Take care not to alert anyone of your presence, especially DJ Korr."

Coby crawled behind the machine. He held his breath once he realized that he was directly behind the freakish, six-armed DJ Korr. He was able to spin all six discs on his turntables at one time.

"That noise. It's so hypnotic." Dayton signed.

Coby slowly unscrewed the panel on the USS. Inside were several multi-colored wires. Coby took out his phone and read another message.

"I'm reading over the USS blueprints. There should be a red, green, blue, and orange wire. Quickly detach them and just as quickly reattach them to the large white wire."

Coby did as he was told.

"If you've done it by now, what you did has force linked the USS to all other amps in Clint City. Attach the 'spike' to the wire and get out of there." read the new message from Copper.

Dayton stepped forward and attached a small device to the wire collection that Coby had created.

"Home free. Let's get out of here." he said, tiptoeing forward. Little did he know, the power wire for the USS was strewn right in front of his path, and neither of the Sentinels noticed it. Dayton caught his foot on the wire and accidentally yanked it out, cutting the sound off abruptly.

"Idiot!" Coby said, rather loudly. He vainly covered his mouth, even though the words had already escaped.

DJ Korr looked behind him, yelling in a strange autotuned voice.

"Hey! It's the cops!"

"We're dead." Dayton sighed.

***

Ambulance sirens blared as the Rescue vehicle charged down the dark, empty Clint City streets.

"Read me that emergency report, Larry!" one woman said to the man who was driving.

"The La Junta and Fang Pi Clang have allied for a scrimmage with the Nightmares and G.H.E.I.S.T, who are causing havoc on Main Street."

"That's not the weirdest thing, though, Bridget." said Larry, who was barreling down the streets, seeing the red lights as a just a suggestion. The Nightmares have been seen using super-advanced technology."

Bridget frowned.

"Now, I know from experience that Ielena is no idiot, but there's no way she could've gotten her hands on Upper tech on her own. Something odd is going on, but that's not our problem. We have lives to save, which is the Rescue Clan's first priority."

The ambulance screeched to a stop and the Rescue workers leaped out. They ducked to avoid a chunk of scorching debris that flew right toward them.

"Move, Rescues, move!" Larry ordered. They sprinted through the whistling bombshells that flew through the air.

"We have an injury over here!" yelled one of the Rescues that were already on scene.

"What's been going on here, Marco? You've been here longer." Larry asked.

"They're chucking grenades. This place is becoming a war zone."

"So what's the case?"

"Winifred caught one from an acid leech that Astrid threw." Marco said, lifting the shirt of the woman lying on the ground.

"My God. That's the worst acid burn I've ever seen. Get her out to the ambulance, stat!" Bridget ordered. Larry and Marco put Winifred on the stretcher.

"Glosh, Hax, Alec! Go into the fray and bring back any injuries, whether it be Junta or G.H.E.I.S.T. The Rescue Clan doesn't take sides." Bridget said, walking toward the ambulance. "If you can, try and drive back the Nightmares and any G.H.E.I. that are overly aggro."

The three men ran into the rain of bombs and smoke, plucking any injured warrior from the field. Alec stopped when he saw a large fire coming from one of the buildings.

"That fire is ROARING!" Glosh said.

"We can see that, big guy." Alec said.

"No, literally! Listen!"

From inside the building, there was a loud roaring sound that didn't come from the fire.

"Oh no. Glosh, get the injured Juntas and Clangs out of here. Hax, you're with me."

The heavy-set Rescue ran as fast as he could, carrying three unconscious bodies on each shoulder.

Alec walked up to the broken door, flinching backwards when a flame jumped out of it. He activated a miniature water pump built into the arm of his suit and blasted the flames, slowly entering the inferno.

The first thing that Alec heard was the sound of gunfire. Quickly blasting any flames in his wake, Alec and Hax ran up the steps. He ran into a Junta with a faceplate covering his identity, but Alec could tall who he was by his voice.

"Hey, Alec. Is Winifred okay? I heard she got taken down by Astrid, but I was on active duty, so I couldn't see for myself."

"She's in critical condition, but don't worry, Myke. You're girlfriend's going to be fine."

"Wish I could say the same for you, old friend." said a deep demonic voice. Alec recognized it as the voice that roared. All of a sudden, a strange creature with red skin and red wings and covered in living flames stepped from a doorway.

"Kenny? Kenny, is that you?" Alec asked.

"Surprised? The Nightmare are my people. THIS is what I was born to do." Kenny said, referring to the wildfire he had started in the building.

"Hax, get Myke and any other people in here to Bridget."

"Are you crazy? You can't fight Kenny alone." Hax protested.

"Just go! This is my fight!" Alec barked. Hax nodded and ran back downstairs with Myke in tow to look for any other survivors.

"We don't have to do this, Kenny. This isn't the Rescue's fight. We're here to help people in trouble."

"The only one you should be worried about helping is yourself!" Kenny said, drawing a flaming sword.

Alec put his helmet on and took a long pickaxe from the strap on his back.

He and Kenny began to trade blows amidst the roaring flames. Kenny got one good blow in, searing Alec's arm. Alec responded by blasting Kenny in the face with a large stream of water. He hissed in pain, giving Alec an opportunity to kick him out of a nearby window.

Alec held his breath as he heard the building moan and creak.

"Alec! We have to get out, now!" Hax yelled from the top floor, where he had worked his way up.

Alec looked around for the nearest exit, and then noticed the window that he had just kicked Kenny out of.

Alec made a running break for the window and quickly leaped out, only now realizing how high he was from the ground. A fall at that height could kill a human being instantly. Thoughts of death gripped Alec's mind as he freefell to the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut when he was only feet from the earth.

All of a sudden, Alec received a sudden lift. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in the arms of a flying, light grey-skinned woman.

"Aurora! Nice to see you, love!" he said as he flew through the air. "You have a nice sense of timing."

"I do my best." Aurora said, placing Alec on the ground. He turned back to the burning building, witnessing its collapse to the ground. Hax had already escaped and was sitting with Myke and other unconscious survivors on the other side of the road.

"Alec, we've got a big problem down here!! Like, REALLY big!" Glosh yelled, turning a corner and running down the street from something.

Alec was confused until he heard loud stomping. Coming out of the corner street that Glosh was escaping from was a giant of a man, standing as tall as ten of Alec. He had a large red beard, but most of the red was probably blood. He clutched a large burnt redwood in one hand.

"No way! How did they get a hold of Timber?!" Alec asked himself.

Timber raised his head and gave a blood-curdling roar.

***

In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Bridget was busy treating Winifred, who was since unconscious from anesthesia.

"Give me some more skin grafts, Mark. I've only covered up about a quarter of her burns." she said to the other doctor.

"We don't have anymore grafts." Mark said.

"What do you mean?? Where did all of our grafts go?"

"We didn't have that many to begin with."

"Fine. Get the culture fluids. Were going to grow our own grafts from her skin." Bridget said.

As the two doctors were preparing to culture Winifred's wounds, a large metal object landed in front of the ambulance. Larry swerved to avoid it.

"Watch it, Larry! We're operating here!" Bridget yelled.

"Sorry! What WAS that?"

Mark quickly looked out of the window behind him and saw a large robotic creature walking toward them, with a computer screen on the front. The face of the G.H.E.I.S.T leader could be seen on the screen.

"Is that Sigmund?" Mark asked.

"There's no time to worry about him. Winifred is still on the table and if we don't wrap her up quickly, she could die." Bridget said, using the cultured skin as a graft on Winifred's acid burns. All of a sudden, a loud thump was heard on the roof of the vehicle. Sharp, bloodstained claws ripped into the roof.

"What the hell?" Bridget asked in surprise as Ielena ripped almost half of the roof off the ambulance.

"I believe you have something of mine." the vampire queen hissed with a slight lisp.

"Is she talking to you?" Mark asked.

"I'll handle this; you finish the operation." Bridget said, making a spectacular leap up onto the roof of the ambulance.

"You've got some nerve, stealing from the Nightmare Leader." Ielena lisped.

"After all of the innocent people you've killed, you're lucky I only took your FANG in your sleep. I could've lethally injected you and you couldn't have done anything about it. But I digress. I needed your fang to produce a cure-all antibiotic." Bridget explained.

"I'd sooner give a rat's ass for what YOU wanted with my fang. I want it back!" Ielena yelled, pouncing on Bridget. She held her by the neck over the edge of the ambulance.

Larry saw Bridget's feet dangling in front of the windshield.

"Hang on, Mark!" he warned, quickly throwing the wheel quickly to the left. The ambulance jerked slightly, causing Ielena to trip backwards, giving Bridget enough leeway to step back onto the ambulance. She took a gun from her pocket and pointed it at Ielena.

"You're a pacifist, Bridget. You won't kill me." she challenged.

"Correct. I won't kill you." Bridget said, pulling the trigger. A small dart full of powerful anesthesia plunged into Ielena's neck, knocking her unconscious. "But I'm no pacifist."

Bridget kicked Ielena off of the ambulance, making her tumble to the streets. Suddenly, a G.H.E.I.S.T missile flew through the air.

"Larry, swerve!!" Bridget yelled. The ambulance quickly jerked to the left, avoiding the missile.

"How'ya doin' back there, Mark?" Larry asked.

"I'm almost done closing her up." said Mark, who was holding a pair of sutures.

Bridget looked behind her and saw the large G.H.E.I.S.T machine stomping toward them, launching a swarm of drunk missiles, which exploded like fireworks all around the ambulance.

"What do they WANT from us?" Bridget asked in exasperation.

"We're almost to the hospital!" Larry said, turning a quick corner. The Rescue HQ was at the end of the street.

"Done!" Mark said, stitching the last suture.

Bridget leaped onto the destroyed roof of the ambulance and gasped as she saw a smart bomb cruising right toward them. She took out her anesthesia gun and fired a round at the missile. It exploded, jarring the ambulance and almost knocking Bridget off. Sigmund's droid was slowly stomping forward.

The ambulance quickly pulled up to the ER entrance. Bridget hopped off of the ambulance and quickly unloaded Winifred. The Rescue HQ administrator, Kerry, quickly ran out of the building. She gasped when she saw Sigmund's droid stomping toward the hospital. Ielena had hopped on top of the droid.

"Sigmund! What is your problem?! Why are you hounding the Rescues? We haven't done anything to provoke you." Bridget said through a loud megaphone.

"This is just business, my dear. Zlatar is paying the G.H.E.I.S.T and Nightmares a hefty amount of green to level your hospital and the surrounding area. And you know I don't say no to money." Sigmund said, releasing a horde of missiles that were whistling through the air, straight toward the Rescue HQ.

"If those missiles make contact, hundreds of people are going to die!" Bridget panicked, staring in absolute fear at the incoming missiles.


	2. Chapter 2

In the Pink Club basement, where the Pussycats lived, Charlie was busy sparring on a heavy-packed punching bag, literally knocking the stuffing out of it. Two other women entered.

"Mrs. Steevens?" one woman said.

Charlie kicked the stuffed leather bag, throwing it off its chain and into the wall.

"My title is not, nor will it ever be 'Mrs.', Noemi. It is 'Ms.', 'Miss', and I even allow my clan-mates to call me 'Charlie', but two names I will NEVER be called by are my real name, which is Charlene, or 'Mrs. Steevens'.

"I apologize, M-"

Noemi caught her tongue as Charlie raised an eyebrow at her.

"I mean, Ms. Steevens. I just came to inform you that Noon is here to see you."

"Hi, Mom!" said the smiling girl next to Noemi. She wore a strange green shirt with white gloves and bellbottom pants.

"Hello, sweetheart." Charlie said, walking to her weightlifting machines and beginning to bench press a large barbell. "Noemi, be a dear and go fetch me some herbal water, will you?"

"Yes, Ms. Steevens." Noemi said, walking out of the room.

"So what do you need, sweetie pie?" Charlie grunted, struggling to life the 85-lb weight for the eleventh time.

"Do you need a spotter, Mom? You look like you're giving out." Noon asked.

"Nah. I can hold it." Charlie said.

"I don't know. Maybe you should put it down, because you're about to be taken by surprise."

"Nothing surprises me anymore." Charlie said.

"Avola left the Pussycats and joined the Montanas."

Charlie gasped and dropped the barbell on her chest, cutting off her oxygen. Noon gasped in turn and helped her mother lift the heavy weight off of her.

"How could she?! Avola was our top espionage unit!"

"The Montanas offered her a lucrative deal that we just couldn't top. They almost got Delores and Ella, but Q and Muze came just in time and drove the Montanas off."

"Good. I'd go crazy if we lost them." Charlie said, panting.

"Mom, why don't we just pay what we owe to the Montanas? You keep telling them that we don't have the money, but in actuality, we could almost RIVAL the Montanas financially."

"Because I'm not going to concede to your father again. Donovan has treated me like a sex kitten for far too long. Alimony is the ONLY thing he's good for." Charlie started ranting.

"The rest of the time, he's either harassing me over the phone or sending his malefactors to collect his precious back rent, and I'M letting it continue. Why should I give him one cent?"

"It would make me happy."

"Aw. You know that I would do ANYTHING for you, don't you Noonoo?" Charlie said. Noon nodded.

"Then can you do this one thing for me?"

"I'd do anything for YOU, mom." Noon said, hugging Charlie.

"Can you fight beside me today against the Montanas?"

"Except that." Noon said, pushing Charlie away and crossing her arms.

"Come on, Noonoo."

"Why are you dragging me down with you? I have better things to do than scuffle with those mafia scabs and mess up my new perm. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go upstairs."

Noon walked out of the room. Noemi walked back in, holding a thermos.

"Your herbal water, Ma'am?"

"Thank you." Charlie said, taking a huge swig.

***

Noon Steevens walked upstairs to the main floor of the Pink Club. She sat down in a plush couch, but a few minutes later, a dark-skinned woman with an afro approached her.

"Sorry I couldn't tell you earlier, Noon, but you've been scheduled for a *hmm mm!* private show."

"Tell me who, Tania. I may or may not be in the mood."

"It's Darren."

"Wait, wait, wait. Did you say Darren or Dayton?"

"Darren, your husband."

Noon furled her eyebrows and followed Tania to the private booth, a bedroom where two men stood talking.

"So you DO know that you're not the only man that your wife 'pleasures'?" one man asked.

"I know it, she knows it, everybody else she screws knows it. I couldn't upset Noon by forcing her to quit her job as a stripper. She loves it too much."

"So… How does this little triangle work?"

"I let Noon keep her job, she lets me do whatever I want, except to her. When we're in bed, SHE'S in charge. It's not a bad deal, actually."

"Alright, Darren. I'll see you later."

"Later, Ricardo."

"Wait a second. Darren's a Montana?" Tania whispered in Noon's ear.

"Everybody knows we're married, but nobody else knows he's a Montana, except for his clan of course, and apparently you know now." Noon whispered back.

"If Mom knew, she'd never have let me marry him. He's Giovanni's kid brother. It's vice versa as well. The Montanas know me, but they're not certain that I'm a Pussycat. Most people can't even guess that I'm Charlie's daughter."

Tania nodded and left the room. Noon walked up to Darren.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Why else?"

"You do know that I get off work at eleven. Then I'll be specially exclusive to you, and you don't even have to pay." Noon said, sitting on the royal bed and unbuttoning Darren's suit coat.

"Well, maybe I just couldn't wait to get some of you." Darren said, leaning in closer.

"Oh, come on, Darren. You really expect me to believe that you're THAT desperate for my body that you'd PAY me? On a schedule? You have two hours with me in comparison to the infinite amount of time I could give you tonight. Something else is going on here and if you don't tell me, you can forget about your coveted 'sexy time' at home."

Darren sighed. "Alright, fine. I was going to tell you later, once you were in a better mood. The Montanas are mobilizing. A few of them have already infiltrated the Hellfire Club."

"What?" Noon asked.

"Calm down, calm down." Darren said, stroking Noon's cheek and taking off her gloves. "I convinced them to strike the HFC first."

"Why would you do that?!" Noon asked.

"So I could come here and warn you that they're coming here next."

"And the private show?"

"Just a little something for Darren." the half-undressed Montana said, leaning in and kissing Noon's neck.

"When are the other Montanas coming?" Noon asked, closing her eyes and unbuttoning her pants.

"If the Pussycats at the HFC are as tough as everyone believes, it'll be a while." Darren said. "So what do you say? Sexy time?"

"I'm not getting my money until this is over, am I?" Noon asked, standing. Her pants fell to the floor. Darren shook his head.

"Figures as much. You Montanas are all the same. Not that I'm complaining on your account. I still love you." Noon said, pushing Darren so that he laid face-up across the bed. Noon then climbed onto the bed and sat on his stomach, taking off her shirt.

"Alright, fine. Let's do this." Noon said, throwing her shirt to the floor and leaning down to kiss Darren.

***

Charlie was busy running on her treadmill in her gym, when her cell phone rang. The song 'Bad Romance' was her ringtone. She answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, sweetheart." said the alto-sounding voice on the other end. Charlie sighed.

"What do you want, Donovan?"

"You don't like me calling you by YOUR real name. Why instigate by using mine?"

"Because pissing you off is one of the many goals in my life." Charlie said.

"Anyway, Charlene," Don started. Charlie gnashed her teeth when she heard her real name. "I've called to make a suggestion for this little fracas."

"I told you, I'm not paying you a cent."

"I understand that. I don't respect it, but I understand. So here's my suggestion. I've decided against taking the Pink Club down. Instead, here's my deal. If the Pussycats can hold their own, the Montanas will leave you little ladies alone."

"And what do you get if you win?"

"My back rent, and you have to be a sexy cat waitress for Biz Week at Borgia's Palace."

"What?"

"We're short a waitress for next week's annual Biz Week, and I'm sure that you would be a fine piece of-"

"Am I nothing but a blow-up doll to you? Do you think that I'm an inanimate object that you can screw with whenever you want to?"

"Screwing with you is fun. More fun than knife-throwing, which is always a good time. Besides, your only other option is continued hassling if you win, or wrecking your precious club if you lose."

"Fine, Don. You have a deal."

"Thanks. I'll see you later, sweet cheeks. We've already crushed the Hellfire Club, now we're heading toward you."

Charlie hung up and threw her phone into the wall, smashing it to pieces. She continued to work out, and about an hour later, a brunette woman wearing a firefighter's suit came in.

"Charlie, a few Montanas are gathering outside the club." she said.

"Thanks, Q. Let's roll out. We can't afford to lose this battle." Charlie said. She took a colorful bag from her pocket and gulped down a couple of Pillz.

Charlie and Baby Q ran upstairs to the club level and spotted some rowdy Montanas at the front door.

"Looks like the boys wanna party." Q said, stepping out the doors and leaping into the air.

"Well, let's turn up the heat!"

All of a sudden, Q exploded in a burst of flames, transforming into a creature made entirely of fire, right up to her hair. A couple of Montana tried to shoot at her, but the bullets melted upon contact. Q responded by blowing a sheet of flames at the Montanas. Other Montanas began to pile in from both sides of the street, and other Pussycats began to pile out of the Pink Club.

"Let the wild rumpus start." Charlie murmured to herself, running into the heat of battle.

***

Noon and Darren laid in the bed of the private booth, panting.

"Only…two hours… and you still managed…to wear me out." Noon said.

"I try my best." Darren said.

"Wait, wait, wait. Do you hear that?" Noon asked, sitting up. She heard the distant sounds of battle.

"Oh no. We have to stop them! This could only end badly for either clan!" Noon panicked, jumping out of the bed and hastily dressing herself. Darren moved at a slower pace, which agitated Noon.

"Come on, slowpoke! It's do or die!" she said, running out of the booth. Darren followed after a minute.

***

In Borgia's Palace, Don used his binoculars to observe the street war that was occurring.

"This is not looking good, Pino. The Pussycats are holding us off. They'll have the last laugh if this keeps up."

"So, whadda we gonna do, Don?" Pino asked.

The Montana leader turned in his seat, placing one elbow on his desk and supporting his head with his hand.

"I didn't think we'd have to take it to this point." he sighed. "Send in my lil' sis. She'll straighten those kittens out. I'm coming, too, in a few minutes."

"Yes, sir." Pino said, exiting his leader's quarters. Don used his binoculars to continue to observe the scrimmage at the Pink Club. He focused on Charlie, who lifted a Montana into the air and threw him for distance away from the Pink Club.

"Alright, Beatrix. Let's see if you really CAN hold your own." Don said to himself.

***

In one collective group, Charlie, Muze, and Baby Q were stomping all over Montanas, left and right. They were on the verge of victory, but heavy stomping diverted their attention.

"Vat's all zis I hear about ze rowdy vittle kittens? Filomena is here to set you tramps straight!" said a loud, spirited voice. From one street, a very large woman stomped toward the battle, wielding a freakishly large rolling pin.

"Holy sh-" one Pussycat started. Filomena turned to her with an eyebrow upturned.

"You vatch your mouth, young lady!" Filomena scolded, picking the Pussycat off of the ground with one hand.

"Cassio!" Charlie yelled, running toward them.

"Naughty vittle girls must be punished harshly!" Filomena said, giving Cassio a sound spanking.

"Ow! Ow! OW! That stings!" Cassio cried.

"Zis hurts me more zan it hurts you." Filomena said, pitching Cassio to the roof of the Pink Club.

"Vell! Vat do you know? Zat didn't hurt me at all!"

Filomena swung her rolling pin around wildly, dealing out concussions wherever she stepped.

"Muze, Q! Stop that wide load!" Charlie ordered.

"Excuse me?! Vat did you call me?!" Filomena yelled at Charlie, almost crushing Muze under her heel. Baby Q swallowed some Pillz and blew a great cloud of fire at Filomena.

"Oh! You scoundrel!" Filomena yelled, stepping backwards.

In the crowd of Montanas and Pussycats, Zodiack squinted at Baby Q.

"You think you're so hot, Q. Let's see you melt through this."

Zodiack pointed a gun at Q and fired. The bullet expanded into a large net, which wrapped around Q and sent her plummeting to the ground.

"I love fire-retardant nets." Zodiack said, blowing the smoke off of her pistol.

Baby Q was wriggling like a worm on the ground as Filomena continued to trounce around Muze and Charlie.

When Filomena swung her rolling pin downward, preparing to turn Muze into street art, Charlie stopped it dead with one hand, throwing it aside.

"You! I recognize you, sister-in-law!" Filomena said. "You are ze instigator!"

"Me?! It was YOUR dickhead brother that made me sick to my stomach!"

"Oh! Zat is it! I don't need ze rolling pin to smash you flat!" Filomena roared, stomping all over the place, trying to crush Charlie underfoot. After a hard stumble on Filomena's part, Charlie, jumped into the air, delivering a shattering uppercut that sent the large Montana crashing to the ground.

"Who's next?" Charlie yelled to her opponents around her. When she turned, she felt cold steel on her nose.

"Now, who would've thought we'd meet up like this?" Don asked his ex-wife, holding a gun to her face.

"You don't scare me anymore, Don. After twenty-seven years of extortion, physical abuse, and a bullsh*t honeymoon, nothing scares me."

"I've got you cornered, Charlie. If you go down, so does the rest of your clan. Surrender, and then you'll keep that pretty face of yours." Don said, patting Charlie's cheek.

Charlie began to sweat a little, squinting at the gun barrel in front of her. All of a sudden, Don and the other Montanas that surrounded him grunted and yelled, falling to the ground in pain.

Charlie squinted in confusion. Suddenly, she felt as if someone had fired a cannon in her chest. Her stomach and intestines tied themselves in army knots and her legs turned to jelly. Charlie's pain was so intense, she couldn't even open her mouth to scream.

'There's only one person who I know can do this to others.' she thought.

"F-F-Feelyn…" Charlie strained to whisper.

At the doors of the Pink Club, Noon and Warren were standing beside the Pussycats' shaman, Feelyn.

"How much longer must I keep this up?" Feelyn asked Noon, who was looking out at the pained, shuddering combatants on the ground.

"You can stop now." Noon said, once she was between Charlie and Don.

"N-Noon… What…"

"Don't say anymore, Mom." Noon said. "This war is ridiculous! Why do the Pussycats and Montanas have to have such an animosity between each other?!"

Don opened his mouth to answer, but Noon stopped him.

"Wait! I know what you're going to say. 'It's Charlie's fault.' And YOU were going to say 'It's Don's fault.'" Noon said, directing her last comment to her mother.

"Well, I'm ending this right NOW! Dad, we're not going to pay you your back rent in money."

"But-"

"Yes!" Charlie whispered.

"Don't cheer yet, Mom. I said we weren't going to pay in money. I haven't told you both HOW we're going to pay it off."

Charlie gulped.

***

"*sigh* Well, it's better than giving Don the pleasure of getting his back rent…I think."

"Don't be so down, Mom. This is fun! I feel hot and sexy in these clothes."

Charlie and Noon were delivering dinner platters at Borgia's Palace. Charlie was dressed in a cat maid outfit, while Noon was dressed as a poker bunny.

"By the way, thanks for offering to do this with me. I need the moral support." Charlie said.

"I told you already, Mom. I'd do anything for you." Noon said, giving a big toothy smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Dayton and Coby ran for their lives away from the large group of angry Junkz, Bangers, and All-Stars.

"Do these guys get tired? They've been chasing us for fifteen minutes." Dayton panted.

"Too many ChocoMuscle bars. The Junkz are basically meat-covered robots." Coby wheezed.

"Where's that backup?!" Dayton yelled into his radio.

"Havok, Chloe, and I are flying over right now." Copper said. All of a sudden, a blinding light shone down, and helicopter blades could be heard from above. A long ladder fell from the belly of the copter. Dayton and Coby grabbed onto it for dear life, and the helicopter rose into the air again.

"I TOLD you we should've left those Junkz alone! Didn't I tell him, Dayton??" Coby yelled.

"Coby, calm down. Is the machine in place?" Copper asked.

"Yes, but-"

Copper took out a small device and pressed a button on it. On the ground, the Universal Sound System became covered with electricity. Around Clint City, sparks of electricity flew around from sound systems everywhere.

"It's done. Now let me explain. Korr bought that sound system from Sigmund, who manufactured it with mind-controlling technology. If we had allowed that thing to go completely live, the whole of Clint City would be under Sigmund's spell. You guys weren't exposed to it long enough to be affected."

"Ah. That makes a lot more sense." Dayton said.

"Korr and the Junkz are bound to be pissed for the next day or so, but after that, the effects of the USS should wear off. Now onto our new mission."

"Aw, come on!" Dayton protested.

"It's our job, Dayton. Somebody's got to do it."

"You've got Amy, Aurelia, Carlos, Luis, and even Tobbie. Why can't they do this?"

"Because they're not on hand right this moment. You are." Chloe said.

"Oh."

"There's something going down at Rescue HQ. Something involving the Nightmares and the G.H.E.I.S.T, and you know the two are never a good combo."

"Let's go, then." said Havok, who was piloting the helicopter.

***

Bridget had her eyes locked in absolute terror at the missiles that were flying toward the Rescue HQ. Kerry ran back toward the triage entrance.

"Beverly! Bever-" Kerry winced as burning pain shot up her leg. "Beverly!!! Throw up the shields, now!!!"

From inside the hospital, the switchboard operator, Beverly, heard Kerry's call.

"Right away, Dr. Kerry!" Beverly said, turning a dial on her control panel.

Outside, large block panels opened up on the HQ and small orb-like structures erected from them. The orbs began to glow green and the HQ was suddenly shielded by a transparent green shield.

The missiles impacted with the shield, exploding violently. Bridget was thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion, but when the smoke cleared, the HQ was unscathed.

Kerry hobbled inside the hospital and into a wheelchair. She wheeled herself into the triage, where everyone seemed shaken.

"Is everybody alright?" Kerry asked.

"Present and accounted for, ma'am." Beverly said. Suddenly, the lights began to flicker and outside, the shield began to fade.

"We'll only be able to take one more good hit before our power goes out. We're already burning our reserves as it is."

"We'll have to hope for a miracle." Kerry said, glancing back at the outside.

***

Bridget began to sweat as she stared on, unable to do anything.

"Oh, blast it! I'll have to reload. In the meanwhile…" Sigmund said from his machine.

All of a sudden, a dark figure leaped from the top of the machine landing with a loud boom beside Bridget. The creature had green scaly skin and no visible eyes or nose. He wore mainly burgundy with the G.H.E.I.S.T symbol on one breast pocket. He roared loudly, throwing swift punches and kicks at Bridget. One golden punch sent her flying into the wall, but Bridget strafed to one side before the creature landed the finishing blow.

"Bridget, we've got a problem in here!" yelled Mark into Bridget's two-way radio headset.

"Tell me about it! Hold on a second while I deal with Anibal."

"Anibal?! But-" Bridget couldn't hear the rest of what Mark said, being too focused on Anibal.

"*sigh* I didn't think I'd have to resort to this." Bridget said, cupping her hand around the eye with a red cross tattoo around it.

Her eye began to glow bright red. Suddenly, she blasted a thick laser beam at Anibal. When it struck him, the beam exploded, knocking Anibal backwards. He growled low and tried to stand, but Bridget stood on his neck, pinning him to the ground.

"Bridget! Can you hear me?!" Mark yelled.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I said that Anibal is trashing the third floor of the ICU."

"Impossible! Anibal is outside! I'm standing on him!"

"Well… What is your Anibal wearing?"

"His regular mercenary outfit."

"The Anibal in here is wearing a hospital gown. And I think he took Winifred somewhere. Her room was in the worst state, and she's nowhere to be found."

"Hmm… I'll be there in just a sec-" Bridget stopped as a loud boom filled the air. She looked behind her and Sigmund had launched another flurry of missiles at the HQ.

***

Inside, Kerry sat in the triage, talking to Beverly. Suddenly, another loud sound rocked the hospital, knocking out the lights and the shield.

"Beverly, what happened? Are we out of power?" Kerry asked.

"No, they just knocked us out. A good jumpstart will get us back." Beverly said, digging in her desk, pulling out a two-way radio labeled 'B'.

"Bobby, get to the circuit breaker in the boiler room and give us a jump. Hurry!"

"On my way!" said Bobby from the other line.

"You Rescues are a sturdy bunch, but I believe this is checkmate. Once I reload, you can't stop me." Sigmund said menacingly from outside.

In the boiler room, Bobby was rapidly flipping switches. Once he was done with that, he swiftly pulled a lever down, then back up again.

The lights flickered, but they didn't steadily come back on.

"Come on, Bobby! Hurry! You need a bigger charge!" Beverly said.

Bobby flipped more switches then tried again with the lever. The lights and shield came back up for two seconds, then flickered off again. Outside, Sigmund launched another barrage of missiles.

"BOBBY!!!!!!" Beverly shrieked.

"All or nothing…" Bobby murmured to himself, quickly flipping as many switches as he could. He pulled the lever again, and the lights came on hard, becoming so bright that they blinded everyone inside.

Outside, the shield began to crackle and pop, and suddenly it exploded outward in a large transparent field.

When the field passed through Bridget, she suddenly crumpled to the ground, unable to move. When it struck the missiles, they exploded, but the fire was quickly extinguished by the expanding green electric field. It passed Sigmund's machine and Sigmund's image began to crackle into TV snow. The machine crashed down to the ground.

***

The street war between the Nightmares, Junta, G.H.E.I.S.T, and Pi Clang raged on, but the opposition was gaining the upper hand. Timber was stomping all over the place, trying to crush the fleeing ninja and militia soldiers. Linda, one of the Pi Clang, tripped over her feet and fell to the ground, right where Timber was about to step.

Aurora heard Linda's screams of terror and leaped into the air, activating her wings and flying at a high speed toward Linda. Right before Timber flattened her, Aurora swept Linda into the air and out of danger.

"Phew. Thanks, Aurora." Linda said.

"Anytime!"

Suddenly, a field of transparent green energy passed over the battlefield. Everyone, including Timber, fell to the ground. Aurora's wings lost their power and she and Linda fell to the ground, tumbling only a few feet.

"What's going on? Why can't I move?" Linda asked.

"I don't know. I can't move either." Aurora said in fear, forced to stare at the collapsed bodies of those around her.

***

As the electric field passed over the Sentinel chopper flying in the sky, it suddenly began to dive down slightly.

"Havok! What's going on?!" Chloe yelled.

"I don't know! I can't move!" Havok yelled back. Chloe looked around and noticed that everyone else was on the floor.

"Move over!" Chloe said, pushing Havok out of the pilot's seat and trying to pull the helicopter out of the nosedive. Then she noticed that no sound was coming from the helicopter.

"Something's wrong! Everything's gone down!" Chloe said, trying hard to pull out. She couldn't move the plane up or down, but she found that by riding the wind on the rudders, she could move left and right.

"Hold on, guys! It's going to get bumpy!" Chloe warned, crashing into a billboard. The copter's blades became twisted in the space-age polymers that held the board together, stopping it cold.

"Is everybody okay?" Chloe asked.

"I would be, if I could move." Copper said. "Why aren't you paralyzed?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Chloe said, getting up and walking to the door. "Hold tight. I'll be back as soon as I can."

***

"Hey, Bridget!" called a voice from the triage entrance. Bridget looked and saw that it was her fiancé Dylan, running toward her.

"Dylan, no!" Bridget warned, but it was too late. As soon as Dylan exited the hospital, he fell to the ground, rolling to a stop beside Bridget.

"What the- What's going on?"

"I predict that it's the super-photon field that blasted from the HQ. Overcharged photons have an adverse effect on anything that is influenced by electricity, for example, the nervous system."

"Ah. That explains why I can't move."

"It's not just us. This field appears to have covered the whole of Clint City. I don't think anyone will be able to move for a long while. Not a single machine will operate either. You were safe in the hospital because the field can't come inward. It starts at the walls of the HQ and goes to the corners of Clint City."

"What can we do?"

"Exactly. What CAN we do?"

"Bridget! What's going on? Why is everybody in the city on the ground?" asked Chloe's voice.

"Chloe, is that you? You can walk?"

"Yeah, Why can't you?"

"Because this electric field is spiking my nervous system. It should be doing the same to you. Take me and Dylan back into the hospital so I can move again."

Chloe took Bridget and Dylan's arms and dragged them into the triage. Bridget regained muscle control and stood. She looked at Chloe and noticed that she was wearing a shiny red necklace.

"Phosphorus nitrite. How'd you get a hold of space metal?"

"It was a gift from Havok. He bought it from a Sakrohm named Sol Hona." Chloe said, twiddling the bracelet bead in her fingers.

"Chloe, THIS is the reason why the photon field doesn't affect you. Phosphorus nitrite has an atomic structure and electric charge that counteracts photonic charges. Whatever photons that would be in your body have been sucked into that necklace."

"What does that mean?"

"You're the only one in Clint City who is completely immune, which means that you're the only one who can shut this thing off. I need you to go to the ICU third floor. That's the best shot you've got to disable the field."

"What do I have to do?"

"Just destroy the glowing green orb that you'll find just outside the main window."

"On it." Chloe said, running to the ICU elevator.

***

Within the G.H.E.I.S.T headquarters, Sigmund was lying face down on his control console.

"What's going on, Astrid?" he asked the woman who was crumpled to the ground beside Sigmund's desk.

"Not sure. It has something to do with the Rescue HQ, where WINIFRED just arrived."

"They have Winifred? Boy am I glad that I didn't blow them up, then. Once we can move again, we'll have to fall back. Zlatar won't be happy."

The office went silent once again.

***

On the third floor, Chloe gasped at the carnage that she saw just in the main hallway. Unconscious and groaning bodies were strewn across the floor. Chloe spotted someone she recognized and ran toward her.

"Lea! What's going on here?" she asked.

"Uhh… Anibal got in somehow. We don't know what he's doing here."

"Where is he?"

Before Lea could answer, a loud, deep roar filled the halls. All of a sudden, Anibal burst through one of the walls beside Chloe.

The Sentinel took out her gun to fire at him, but Anibal quickly snatched the gun and crushed it in one hand.

Now weaponless, Chloe ran dow the hall as fast as she could. Anibal wasn't far behind. He leaped into the air to pounce on Chloe, and in the same moment, Chloe tripped over her high heels. Anibal flew over Chloe's head and out of the three-story window in front of her. Chloe crawled to the window and stared down at Anibal's body that was lying on the ground.

Chloe frowned when she saw that there were two Anibals on the ground.

"I'll ask later." she said to herself, taking a spare gun from her pocket and putting several rounds into the green orb hanging on the outside wall behind her.

***

Once the field completely dissipated, Chloe went back to get her teammates. Once everything had died down, Bridget, Mark, and the Sentinels went to a solitary confinement room, where the two Anibals were being held.

"I don't understand. Since when were there two Anibals?" Havok asked.

"It could just be a clone." Coby suggested.

"Do you really believe that after Mini Mund, the G.H.E.I.S.T would try cloning again? And even if they did, it wouldn't have come out so perfectly. You can learn from mistakes, but not this quickly." Chloe explained.

"And I'm guessing we can't ask them which one is the real one?" Dayton said.

"I wish we could ask them what they did with Winifred." Copper grumbled.

For the first time, Bridget's silence could be heard.

"What are you thinking, Bridge?" Havok asked.

"How did the second Anibal get inside the HQ?"

"Nobody knows. He just suddenly appeared." Mark said.

"Anibal doesn't have the finesse or the cunning intelligence to be able to sneak into the HQ, which means…"

"He had help." Dayton said.

"Not just any help. I think I know who the other Anibal is." Bridget said with a flustered expression.

"What do you mean who?"

"I followed Anibal's trail of destruction starting from where Chloe took him down to the origin. As it turns out, Anibal's carnage started in Winifred's ward."

Everyone in the room furled their eyebrows, even Bridget.

"Anibal is wearing a hospital gown, one that we only give to patients."

Bridget walked up to the second Anibal, who struggled against his chains. She sniffed him, then stepped backwards.

"Smells like perfume… Wearing a patient's gown… Started his destruction…"

Suddenly, Bridget's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She walked back toward Anibal, who had tired himself out from struggling.

"Winifred? Is that you?"


End file.
